Any tips for getting used to twin block braces?

[GoofyFeet]

Hi

My daughter is due to have these fitted at the end of the summer holidays (unfortunately it is likely to be the week before or even the same week as returning to school, which isn’t ideal in terms of getting used to them!). The orthodontist wanted to try and time the fitting during a school holiday period to give her more time, but a space just came up on the NHS cancellation list, so we are just going to go with that one..

My daughter is really nervous, particularly about having the moulds taken, as she has been online and read about people vomiting during this.

I am worried about her going into school so soon afterwards, when her speech might well be affected, but I don’t want her attendance to be affected. She is a typical 13 year old who can be self-conscious. She is also very slim, a picky eater and can’t really afford to lose any weight. She also has quite a low pain threshold 😬

Any tips on how to support her through the first few weeks would be appreciated! We are looking at 3 years of treatment and it seems that she really needs it, and this is something she wants to go ahead with.

Firstly - these braces are brilliant and can work really quickly.
Will she for sure be having a mould made with impressions? That’s what I had as a teen (and yes it was a bit weird feeling but I never heard of anyone vomiting) but my son, who had this fairly recently, had a camera scan thing instead for a 3D image and they used that. It was amazing.

The more she can keep them in the better. And doing things like chewing softer stuff with them in helps make them work faster - it’s exercising the muscles in the right way. It will feel completely impossible for the first day, but my son got used to them really quickly, and just got on with it. Nobody said anything at school. Enough kids have braces for it not to be a big deal.

Find out about the whole process - the blocks were the early part and we had the train tracks for longer. It’s fine when you get going.

Thank you ! I don’t know about the moulds and impressions actually, it’s what she saw when looking it up. I didn’t know there was a newer way of doing it, I will phone up and ask.